do my rear tires need to be same manufacturer type as front tires?

[mtabacco]

yah, obvious noob question there. Please let me know,, yes or no?

[LuxoM3]

No. Simply put. It's a tire. Maybe not as cool as cool can be but... in the end a tire.
And if you can't drive the car to 99% of it's ability, chances are, you won't even notice.

But from a "car guy" standpoint... just make sure the tires are fairly similar in speed rating (V,W,Z,Y, etc.) and have similar characteristics (sticky, hard, ride, etc.).

FWIW. The Sumitomo HTR Z-III runs about $400 for all 4 tires from TireRack. Figure $450 shipped.

[slocar]

No. Simply put. It's a tire. Maybe not as cool as cool can be but... in the end a tire.
And if you can't drive the car to 99% of it's ability, chances are, you won't even notice.

But from a "car guy" standpoint... just make sure the tires are fairly similar in speed rating (V,W,Z,Y, etc.) and have similar characteristics (sticky, hard, ride, etc.).

FWIW. The Sumitomo HTR Z-III runs about $400 for all 4 tires from TireRack. Figure $450 shipped.Agreed.

I have Hankook Ventus something or others on the front and HTR Z-III on the back ... only issue I ever have is when I'm really cooking it through a tight corner, the front seems to let go a lot easier.

[Jim@tirerack]

The problem is not in everyday driving. You run into the problem when someone or something pulls out in front of you. When you have different tires front to rear and you push the car to the limits the tires are going to reach that limit at different times.
That can cause bad things to happen.
Below is a link to what happens in the snow.
http://www.tirerack.com/videos/index.jsp?video=22